Job: Finance Associate - Fund for Gender Equality

Location: New York
Deadline: Thursday, 12 September 2013 

Description

UN WOMEN: FINANCE ASSOCIATE (FUND FOR GENDER EQUALITY)

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Application Deadline :

12-Sep-13

Type of Contract :

FTA Local

Post Level :

GS-7

Languages Required :

All posts in the GS categories are subject to local recruitment.

Internally advertised General Service (GS) fixed-term appointment (FTA) positions located in Headquarters are open to GS staff members currently serving in New York/Washington D.C. who hold a UNDP permanent or FTA who are either US Permanent Residents, US citizens or holders of a valid G4 visa at the time of their application and whose G4 visa has been acquired on account of their employment in the UN Systems based in New York or Washington, DC.

Externally advertised GS fixed-term appointment and temporary appointment (TA) positions located in New York/Washington D.C. are open to candidates who are either US Permanent Residents, US Citizens or holders of a valid G4 visa at the time of their application and whose G4 visa has been acquired on account of their employment in the UN Systems based in New York or Washington, DC.

Current UNDP GS staff serving outside of HQ must meet the eligibility criteria stated above prior to their application. 

Selected candidates who meet the above mentioned eligibility criteria are responsible for their own travel and/or relocation costs.

Selection to GS fixed-term appointment positions at Headquarters requires passing a UN administered clerical test (ASAT). 

Applicants under serious consideration for short-listing of posts requiring accountancy and finance skills, must take the UNDP Accountancy and Finance Test (UNDP AFT) prior to short-listing.

Background

The Fund for Gender Equality (FGE) is a $76 million, multi-donor initiative designed to advance innovative, high-impact programmes that focus on women’s economic and political empowerment at local and national levels, in line with national development plans and priorities. Launched in December 2008 with an initial contribution of EUR 50 million (US$65 million) from the Government of Spain, and subsequently joined by the government of Norway, Mexico, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland & private sector donors the Fund for Gender Equality provides grants on a competitive basis to civil society and governmental partners in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the Arab States, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Fund is unique in its focus on supporting partners to turn local and national laws and policies into tangible gains for women’s rights.

The Fund for Gender Equality is managed by UN WOMEN, and is guided by a Steering Committee composed of donor, UN and other multilateral agencies and civil society organizations’ representatives. A Technical Committee, composed of experts in women’s economic and political empowerment from every region of the world, reviews proposals and makes recommendations for funding to the Steering Committee. Knowledge management, communication, monitoring and evaluation aspects of the Fund are central to its operations.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the FGE Chief, following a client-oriented approach, the Finance Associate provides financial services ensuring effective and transparent utilization of financial resources and integrity of work in accordance with UN Women Financial Regulations and rules, Policy and Operations Manual (POM), Finance Manual and instructions and policy guidance from the Chief of Accounts of UN Women.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct guidance and supervision of the FGE Chief, the Finance Associate will carry out the following tasks:

Effective and accurate support to the Fund for Gender Equality budget and work planning process focusing on the achievement of the following tasks:

• Support the preparation of the Fund for Gender Equality annual budget and work plan, extract resources and financial data for planning purposes.
• Input and update the Fund for Gender Equality management budget and work plan in ATLAS (ERP system)– verify accuracy by checking data sources, making necessary calculations and ensuring inclusion of all relevant data.

Effective support in monitoring the financial processes for the Fund for Gender Equality focusing on the achievement of the following results: 

• Record donor contributions and pledges received and forward on a timely basis to Finance Section for recording in ATLAS;
• Facilitate allocation of funds to grants recipients including: i) vendor creation and liaison with Procurement Section; ii) preparation of payment vouchers and supporting documentation and liaison with Finance Section of UN Women for payment voucher approvals; and iii) follow through to successful receipt of funds by grants recipients;
• Support the budget management for FGE grant projects: i) provide guidance and corrective recommendations on budgets submitted by selected grantee organizations to the Fund for Gender Equality for its approval; and ii) initiate projects in ATLAS, create budgets, prepare budget revisions, advise on any budget issues arising, monitor and liaise with Finance Department on rephasals, etc.;
• In coordination with FGE regional Monitoring and Reporting Specialists (M&Rs), facilitate the final review of FACE forms and where required by POM policy, original supporting documentation, for active grantees to ensure that expenses are being properly recorded by grantees, money spent in line with their approved budget. Provide feedback and accounting advice to grantees on technical accounting topics (ai. foreign currency, accruing staff costs, etc). Prepare the necessary journals (accounts payable journal vouchers or APJVs) to process the FACE forms in Atlas to liquidate cash advances to grantees;
• Monitor, reconcile and follow up with FGE regional M&Rs on advances to grantees which are not in accordance with the approved budget or UN Women policy, report any non-compliance to FGE Chief;
• Generate ATLAS management reports, review data periodically and monitor project delivery. Follow-up with Finance and Budget Sections on inconsistencies and ensure adjustments are accurately entered in the system;
• Co-ordinate and manage timely adherence of Month-end closure checklist and Year-end closure instructions for FGE to ensure all actions are taken in accordance with the timelines as indicated and provide to FGE Chief for certification. Prepare relevant financial data for presentations made to donors and other external audiences as requested by the Fund for Gender Equality Chief;
• Liaise with Finance Section for requests for preparation of donor reports and review and comment on draft reports provided prior to finalization;
• Provisions of guidance to all FGE staff on any financial or budget queries, seeking guidance from Finance and Budget Section where necessary;
• Identification of operational and financial problems, development of solutions, seeking guidance from Finance, Budget and Programme Sections where necessary;
• Support Fund for Gender Equality internal and external audits, co-ordinate implementation of audit recommendations.
• Support field offices where grantees request assistance with the design and implementation of internal control system, seeking guidance from Department of Management and Administration where necessary;
• Provide input to proposals and implementation of cost saving and reduction strategies in consultations with FGE Chief.

Effective and efficient operational support to the Fund for Gender Equality Unit  focusing on achievement of the following results:  

• Proper control of the supporting documents for payments of contracts. Ensure funds availability;
• Coordinate the procurement processes of the Fund for Gender Equality, in close collaboration with the Administrative Associate and Procurement Section. 

Provides accounting and administrative support to the Finance Section focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Timely preparation of payment vouchers based on accurate and complete supporting documents authorized by the budget owners and project managers;
• Proper control of the supporting documents for donor agreements and grantee agreements, payments, donor receipts and general ledger journal entries and accounts payable journal vouchers, including filing and archiving
• Maintenance of the internal expenditures control system which ensures that vouchers processed are matched and completed, transactions are accurately recorded and posted in Atlas; and other entitlements are duly processed on a timely basis;
• Timely corrective actions on unposted vouchers, including the vouchers with budget check errors, match exceptions, unapproved vouchers;
• Where necessary, prepare general ledger journal entries (GJEs) for corrections to ensure transactions of FGE are accurate and liaise with Finance Section for review, verification and approval;
• Review, reconciliation and or investigation of general ledger account balances on a monthly basis or as requested by Finance Section to ensure FGE transactions are accurate, timely and complete;
• Timely response to requests to resolve financial data issues.

Ensures facilitation of capacity building and knowledge sharing focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Facilitate promotion and integration of finance role into FGE programmatic roles to ensure cohesive approach to FGE management and resolution of operational issues;
• In coordination with Division of Management and Administration, Organizetraining materials and deliver training on finance for FGE staff and grantees;
• Synthesis of lessons learnt and best practices in financial management for FGE in conjunction with the Finance and Budget Sections;
• Actively participate in knowledge sharing and trainings conducted by DMA Sections to ensure currency of knowledge on UN Women policies and practices;
• Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
• Keep abreast of and ensure full compliance with amendments to International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Inform and train other FGE staff as necessary to ensure IPSAS compliance and currency;
• Keep abreast of and ensure full compliance with all UNW Financial Regulations and Rules, Operations manuals, Internal Control policies and procedures, Standard operating procedures, Finance manual, and Delegations of Authority to ensure consistency across FGE and UN Women and harmonisation with other UN Agencies. Provide recommendations to FGE Chief for proposed amendments;
• Participate as a member UN Women's team in the ATLAS and IPSAS or other system development of UNDP and other UN (Atlas) agencies;
• Prepare her/his own RCA based on the work plan and ensure preparation and review meets established timelines.

Other duties as required.

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles: 

Integrity:

• Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct. 

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity:

• Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
• Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies: 

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity.

Organizational Awareness :

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Client orientation

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring:

• Self-development, initiative-taking.

Working in Teams:

• Acting as a team player and facilitating team work.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

• Creating synergies through self-control.

Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others

Functional Competencies: 

• Ability to perform a broad range of specialized activities related to financial resources management, including managing non-core budgets, maintaining Accounts Receivables and Accounts Payables, and management reporting
• Knowledge of financial rules and regulations, and accounting;
• Strong IT skills;
• Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Completion of Secondary education with specialized training in finance and accounting. University degree in Accounting or Finance would be an asset. Professionally qualified accountants from an internationally recognized institute of accountancy will have an advantage.

Experience:

• 7 years of progressively relevant finance work experience is required;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and knowledge of database packages, working experience in web based ERP financial systems (i.e. SAP, PeopleSoft, Oracle, SUN etc);
• Completion of UN Administrative Support Assessment Test (ASAT);
• Knowledge of IPSAS and IFRS is desirable;
• Completion of UN Women Accountancy & Finance Test required.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required; Fluency in Spanish, French, Arabic, or Russian will be an asset.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from  http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Click here for important information for US Permanent Residents ('Green Card' holders).

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

More Info and Application